Five pictures of Ball State University lined the freshly painted West wall of Mike Pence's new West Charles Street office Friday, but the forty people in the office ignored them.
Instead, the group of business owners, bankers and donors were there to shake hands with the Republican representing Indiana's 6th district.
Some were in suits, others in blue jeans. The people at Pence's open house would grab sandwiches, punch and, hopefully, two minutes with the Congressmen.
After a short break to christen his new office and a few remarks from Munice Mayor Sharon McShirely, Pence spoke about the economy and jobs.
Pence acknowledged the struggle college students face with the job market and education funding.
"There are some business tax relief provisions that could move into this economy later this year," Pence said, "and that would, if they're permanent, allow immediately for them to hire people back and create opportunities. Seventy-five percent of the job creations in this economy are small businesses owners which are seventy-five percent of the opportunities for Ball State grads."
Pence said he has not been happy with the first few stimulus bills and will look carefully at upcoming bills. He said he believes that a trillion dollars thrown into the economy will help, but it should be distributed differently, including into education.
"Ball State has a wonderful tradition in education as well as telecommunications," Pence said. "I will definitely make sure we do our part to make sure the resources are there for research and education funding, maybe not on the level of some of my colleagues will, but we'll make sure those programs don't get cut."
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